Mets injury update: Sandy Alderson provides updates on Syndergaard, Harvey, Walker, and more

Sandy Alderson dished out a bevy of injury updates in a press conference today, and by and large the news was good. Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard are close to being cleared to throw, and Jeurys Familia has already started throwing. Josh Smoker should also be activated in the 3-to-4 days. On the position player side, Neil Walker is 7-to-10 days away.

Walker’s looming return to the field might be the most important bit of news. In the last year of his contract, he could be enticing to a contender looking for some reinforcement at the keystone if he can demonstrate that he’s healthy. He’s currently on pace to return the week before the non-waiver trading deadline, which may make a July deal challenging. However, his salary is large enough that the Mets should be able to make a trade through waivers in August should the opportunity arise.

As for Familia, Harvey, and Syndergaard, all have missed extended time with fairly significant injuries, so they will likely need a good deal longer to ramp up and return to the majors. This news should have an impact on the Mets’ status as sellers, but having three of the team’s most important pitchers back in the fold should make games more watchable down the stretch. Hopefully all three can establish healthy baselines to work off of going into the offseason.